10 October 2017

The month of September brought two culinary highlights in the calendar of events for students of the SA College for Tourism (SACT) in Graaff-Reinet.

HERITAGE DAY

On Friday 22 September, the students celebrated Heritage Day by decorating a table and cooking food to represent traditions and cuisine typically associated with their culture. They also dressed in cultural wear and treated staff to samples of their food. As per the tradition of the Basotho students, guests had to drink from a communal jug of homemade beer and sniff menthol before tasting the food. At the Malwian table, guests had to kneel down and wash their hands in a basin with water before being served us.

The food tasting was followed by an afternoon of joyful dancing and singing in a manner representing the different tribes.

FAB CHEF COMPETITION

For the third year running, Remgro proudly sponsored the annual Fab Chef Competition on Wednesday, 27 September. This competition - brainchild of SACT college board member Jennifer Preller and supported by Mrs Marissa Lubbe, Head of Corporate Social Investment at Remgro - has become one of the biggest highlights on the College calendar. Chefs Kevin and Ian from Fleur du Cap in Somerset West demonstrated two different 3 course meals - a ladies lunch menu and a more masculine menu suitable for a men’s dinner. Each student received a full colour printed copy of the recipe book with photographs and the recipes of the dishes demonstrated. To finish off the demonstration, the chefs prepared 4 different types of biscuits which the students and guests were just to happy to sample.

Later that day, 10 teams of 2 students per team participated in a cook-off during which they had to plan, prepare and present a dish put together from ingredients in a mystery basket. All the ingredients had to be used, and they only had one hour to prepare the dish. The teams came up with very interesting combinations that impressed and even inspired the judges Chefs Kevin and Ian were joined on the judging panel by chef Petru, trainer at SACT, and chef Hestie, who head up the kitchen of a successful local restaurant and used to be a trainee at the college many years ago. The winning and 2 runner up teams received a received prizes such as SACT embroidered aprons and chef’s knives.

The SA College for Tourism operates under the auspices of Peace Parks Foundation and, like the foundation, supports the principles of responsible tourism, maximising benefits and minimising negative impacts.